Thoughts Aloud

Most Americans were rather naïve regarding Jihad when we were blindsided by 9/11. Sure, we knew that Muslim Arabs hated Jewish Arabs to the point of irrational suicide bombers attacking Israel’s pizza parlors and such, but we had been taught to believe that conflict was essentially an ancient dispute over territory, which had essentially been going on since Moses led the first invasion of Palestine.

Yes, we would occasionally experience a terrorist attack in the region ourselves, and just assumed it was because we were allies and supporters of Israel. 9/11 changed everything in my mind. Not only was it a dastardly sneak attack on our homeland, I just couldn’t get my head around what could possibly motivate a score of well-educated Saudi Arabians (ostensibly our second-best ally in the region) to deliberately commit suicide, while flying four hijacked planes into our iconic buildings killing thousands of ‘innocent’ civilians. I remember immediately buying and reading Thomas Friedman’s “From Beirut to Jerusalem,” followed by “The Lexus and the Olive Tree,” to try to acquire a better understanding of Middle East politics and religion, and what their real grievance might be with us.

Like most red-blooded Jacksonian Americans, I was ready for some serious retribution against whoever was responsible, regardless of their motive. Our resident swaggering Texas cowboy in the White House, was more than willing to step up to the challenge, and initially won a lot of respect when he did. Yet, since it appeared that we were not attacked by another country; but by a shadowy international NGO of fundamentalist religious fanatics, who and where were they? Our smart bombs needed coordinates.

In our naiveté, we had to rely on our government to name the enemy we needed to fight and vanquish. This is where Bush & Co. let us down, because he declared war on ‘terrorism,’ which is a tactic, not an enemy or his address. Although Osama Bin Laden and Al Qaeda openly claimed they were on a Jihad for Allah, Bush went out of his way to try to convince us that Islam was a peaceful religion, which was being ‘hijacked’ by ‘extremists.’ In my subsequent research and studies of it, I have concluded that it is pretty near the opposite. The so-called moderate Muslims try not to take the Quran too literally, and ignore much of its teachings calling for violent Jihad. The Jihadists are on firm ground claiming to be the true followers of the explicit teachings of Muhammad, their revered prophet.

I need not bother to comment on what a disaster Barack Husein Obama has been, to our now paltry efforts to defend Americans from the hordes of deranged, barbarous, Jihadist, fanatics, now bent on conquering the entire world for Allah. I think by now it is more than fair to conclude that his name, his Marxist and Black Muslim roots, and the Marxist anti-colonial dreams he inherited from his African Muslim father, which he articulated in his autobiography, are indicative of his obvious sympathy for the cause of the Jihadists.

WWIV, is the existential struggle currently being waged between Modernity, promoted by Western civilization, and the retrograde savagery of the proponents of… call it Jihadism. This avoids the pointless argument over the current nature of Islam, which is more than just a religion, it is a complete governing system and ideology. This war is going rather badly at this point, because Western civilization is decidedly losing. All Americans, who are sufficiently independent of Washington’s teat for their livelihood to be able to think for themselves, are desperate for a regime change of our own.

They are so fed-up with the Incumbrepublocrat establishment, that the consummate outsider Donald Trump has been leading the polls for months. One would think it would be a great opportunity for a libertarian to have a shot. Unfortunately, too many politicos of a libertarian persuasion seem to have a knee-jerk anti-war, anti-military stance, which alienates conservatives and anyone inclined to a strong national defense posture. Can you picture Ron or Rand Paul donning the arguably necessary swagger to lead the charge like Bush after 9/11? Me neither. How about Trump or Carly? Me too. 🙂

Libertarian thinking has made serious inroads into conservative minds since the TEA Party came on the scene. We generally agree on the Constitution, limited government, fiscal restraint, and free market capitalism. We often disagree on so-called ‘social issues’; but this is not necessarily a deal killer for many. The two issues that do stop conservatives cold, from seriously considering libertarian philosophy, is drugs and national defense, particularly the latter. Most regrettably, to most social conservatives, a pot-smoking, anti-war, ‘hippy’ is a Lefty, whatever their fiscal persuasion. 🙂

Thus, I was delighted to read a new article, written in response to the Paris attack, by our old friend Professor Biddle from the Objective Standard. Entitled, “Ten Steps to End Jihad Against the West,” the above not so subtle picture of a B-2 was included with it. It was extremely well done, and his analysis is right on the mark in my opinion. Unfortunately, it won’t be read by many, and few understand the link between objectivism and libertarianism anyway.

I fully understand and embrace the libertarian inclination to mind our own business and not go about the world in search of evil dragons to slay. We would do well to tend to our own problems, and leave the rest of the world free to do deal with theirs. Yet, Biddle makes a really valid point in his first step:

I and other contributors to The Objective Standard have written extensively about what Americans and the United States must do to end the jihad against America. But, as is increasingly clear, the target of this metastasizing jihad is broader than America. The target is the West as such. So I’d like here to consider some actions that Westerners and Western nations in general must take if we want to end this murderous assault on the civilized world.

“Western,” in this context, refers not to a geographic location but to a philosophic and cultural disposition. Western people and nations are those that substantially (if imperfectly) embrace and uphold certain Enlightenment values, including: the principle that reason (i.e., observation and logic) is man’s means of knowledge; the principle that individuals have moral rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; and the principle that political freedom—including freedom of conscience and expression—is essential to civilized society. These are the basic ideas denoted by the concept of “Western,” and the West’s implementation of these ideas is the basic reason that jihadists are attacking us.

What must we do to put an end to this jihad? Although each Western nation has its own specific political context, governmental structure, and legal requirements for going to war, there are a number of general actions that all Westerners and/or Western nations can and should take if we want to end this barbarous assault. Here are ten essential steps.

1. Acknowledge that we are at war.

Westerners must acknowledge that we are at war with Islamic states and jihadist groups that have attacked our countries and killed our countrymen. We are at war regardless of whether our political leaders have declared war, regardless of whether Western intellectuals admit we are at war, regardless of whether anyone acknowledges the fact. Our alternatives do not include whether to go to war. Our alternatives are whether to win the war that is being waged against us, or not to do so. Our alternatives are: victory or submission.

How could any rational person argue with that logic? Defense is not aggression. Take away National Defense, and I see little justification for the very existence of a Federal Government or any of its politicians. If Rand Paul and others truly wish to be taken seriously by those on the Right, they should publicly adopt Biddle’s defense strategy as a ‘libertarian foreign policy’ toward any entity inclined to attack us. Do read the whole thing, and consider broadcasting it far and wide. It is that good… and important. â—„Daveâ–º

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